Kitteh Owners!

[Bassetluv]

Can I add this about litter? I've had cats almost my entire life (and still won't admit to being a 'cat person'! They choose me, I don't choose them), and one issue I've always hated dealing with is the litter box. For most of the years I've had cats I've used the regular scoopable clay litter, and for a brief time also used Yesterday's News. Still had issues with the smell. However, about five or six months ago I decided to try something, and attempted to switch my 14-yr-old cat Fritz to the same pelleted bedding I use for the rabbits (Magnum pelleted horse bedding). I introduced it gradually, intermixing it with the clay litter, and have to say I only wish I'd done this 20 years ago. Not only does it work as well with the cat as it does the rabbits, but it is the best thing I've ever found to absorb that 'kitty' smell in the urine. Now you would never know I have a cat in the house (well, other than kitty hair on the kitchen chairs, and a big grey lump of cat sunning himself in the window :biggrin2.

Also (personal opinion here) I would never recommend declawing. I did have one cat declawed many years ago and never did I feel so cruel after it was done. It's a rather barbaric surgery, imo.
As for cats going outdoors...mine did until last year. He had been an indoor/outdoor cat when I got him, and I had tried unsuccessfully to switch him to an indoor kitty only, but he would drive me crazy, crying all the time, clawing at the door, and urinating in corners and on clothing/shoes if I didn't let him out. And when he did go outdoors, there were occasions when he would kill some wildlife (a couple of birds, many mice ) and then last year he p***ed off a neighbor, literally, when he began spraying one of their basement windows (and yes, he's neutered). In other words, he was being a nuisance to others as well as disturbing nature. So I decided that was it...even if it drove me crazy he was no longer allowed outside. But through the help of suggestions from others here, I was able to work through it...I scoured urinated areas constantly and purchased a pheremone spray ("No Mark")....and danged, it worked! He still has the urge to go outdoors and I have to watch that he doesn't sneak out with the dog, but no more inappropriate spray issues, and no more crying and pacing. Who says you can't teach an old cat new habits?

 

[BethM]

kherrmann3 wrote:

I personally am a dog person. I grew up with West Highland Terriers, and they don't have the icky coat. They are supposed to be one of the few dogs that are OK with people who have allergies.

I don't really care for dogs, either. (I was bitten when I was young. Also, I can't stand having that wet nose put on me, or being licked by a tongue that might have just been in the toilet.)

I don't mind my aunt's cats so much. She has got them trained to not get on furniture. At all. Ever. They also stay off the kitchen counter, which is another thing that grosses me out. Those feet were just in a litter box, and now they are on the kitchen counter! Those cats won't get on the counter or a chair or the couch, even if you have a treat and are trying to get them up there. They just sit and look at you.

My best friend used to have a cat that could come and go as it pleased, through a window she kept open year-round for it. One day, it just didn't come back. It was in the dead of winter, after a really bad ice storm. Either it died, or someone took it in, it really should not have been allowed out in that weather. It never showed up in the shelter.

 

[NZminilops]

undergunfire wrote:

I agree 100%, Eileen. Personally, I don't know why some people think that is okay to let a cat run free outside, but once someone says their dog roams the neighborhood...all hell breaks loose....IMHO.

Sometimes it's hard to keep them indoors. I don't know if you guys were directing your comments at me, but it's very normal to let your pets outdoors here. Not saying I think we should all shut our pets outdoors and ignore them at all, and what works for some people may not work for others. We have a much nicer climate here for outdoor activities with animals, that I realise people in other countries may not be so lucky to have.

I don't think animals should be excluded from some sort of outdoor activity though. Imagine being shut in a house forever, and not going outside. Yeah it's safer for them, but a lot of harm and accidents occur to pets (and ourselves) within the home too. I could perhaps never get in a car again or set foot outside the door to be safe, but I'd miss out on a lot of fun too, and I feel the same about my pets.

Brewster goes outside with me to go to the toilet, but only during daylight hours, a night she has a litter tray. We have heaps of fun playing outside, she climbs the trees and we play chase. She gets to sharpen her claws on fences and trees rather than anything inside the house. She gets to chase moths, watch birds fly by and chatter at them, then race inside all excited to be back in. Because I'm with her, she doesn't get the chance to attack wildlife, though she has bought in a baby bird once (Mat let her outside unsupervised, I never would!).

You can get really cool ourdoor enclosures for cats too, for added safety for them and wildlife.

Not trying to be argumentative but felt that my views were being read wrongly.

 

[BethM]

Ceara wrote:

I don't think animals should be excluded from some sort of outdoor activity though. Imagine being shut in a house forever, and not going outside. Yeah it's safer for them, but a lot of harm and accidents occur to pets (and ourselves) within the home too. I could perhaps never get in a car again or set foot outside the door to be safe, but I'd miss out on a lot of fun too, and I feel the same about my pets.



Not trying to be argumentative but felt that my views were being read wrongly.

I hope my comment about my friend's indoor/outdoor cat didn't bother you. I don't have issues with indoor/outdoor cats, normally. It's healthy for them to get some outdoor time. Just maybe not on an anytime basis, as my friend's cat was. Also, here the winters get Really cold, I think the year the cat disappeared it was below zero (Fahrenheit) for over a week, and we'd had an ice storm that knocked out power for weeks over a huge area. The window she had available for the cat forced the cat to leap from a deck railing into the window, and there wasn't a ledge for it to land on.
Summers regularly go over 100 degrees, too.

Even this past winter, which was pretty mild, I almost called animal control on a cat that roams my MIL's neighborhood. It was soooo cold, the pads on the cat's feet were bright red from being out. The cat appears to have a "home," but is always out roaming. There's lots of traffic in that area, too. Her cats are allowed out in her backyard, but only on a supervised basis.

(Just because I don't personally like cats doesn't mean I don't care about their well-being. I like them fine, as long as they're in someone else's house.)

 

[undergunfire]

Ceara wrote:

undergunfire wrote:

I agree 100%, Eileen. Personally, I don't know why some people think that is okay to let a cat run free outside, but once someone says their dog roams the neighborhood...all hell breaks loose....IMHO.

Sometimes it's hard to keep them indoors. I don't know if you guys were directing your comments at me, but it's very normal to let your pets outdoors here. Not saying I think we should all shut our pets outdoors and ignore them at all, and what works for some people may not work for others. We have a much nicer climate here for outdoor activities with animals, that I realise people in other countries may not be so lucky to have.

I don't think animals should be excluded from some sort of outdoor activity though. Imagine being shut in a house forever, and not going outside. Yeah it's safer for them, but a lot of harm and accidents occur to pets (and ourselves) within the home too. I could perhaps never get in a car again or set foot outside the door to be safe, but I'd miss out on a lot of fun too, and I feel the same about my pets.

It is definitely not safe here. It wasn't safe for a cat outside in NY where I lived (multiple places), nor is it safe in Arizona where I live now.

I have big coyotes right next to my house in the field here in AZ. Back in NY there were bears, coyotes, foxes, ect. There is also stray/lost dogs who may be looking for a "fun time". There are people who trap and kill free-running cats just to be jerks, there are also people who leave a shed or something open....trapping a cat inside for days, ect. Other stray cats can fight your cat. Not to mention all the illnesses/diseases cats can get my meeting another cat with an illness/disease...even if your cat is vaccinated against it.

I, personally, think there are way too many dangers to have a free roaming cat outside. I can see if you supervised your cat and it never went a far distance from you, then when you went inside...the cat came too. A harness & leash is also okay, I think.



My kitties have never been outside kitties, so they do not know the difference. I would never, ever, ever let them outside here. It's too dangerous for them and I would worry so much about them. I remember growing up with cats and my mom would let them be inside/outside cats...then they would go missing and never come back...that drove me nuts as a child because it could have been prevented if they were strictly indoors only.

Juju, for some reason, ran outside with me while I took my dog outside to go potty. I think I left the door open a little too long. Let me tell you....I cried my eyes out. I was so scared he would run off and I would lose him.

I noticed people here in the US will also keep a cat that they found outside their house if it was friendly. I have heard of way too many people taking in a "stray" cat and making it their pet....when it could very likely have been someone else's pet that escaped the house or was indoor/outdoor.

 

[Elf Mommy]

We had a crazy cat lady across the street. I can't tell you how many times I rushed over to have her or her brother-in-law come remove a dead squished cat from the side of the road near my home before my son or daughter would see it. When she passed away, and her sister & brother-in-law moved away, they left many of the cats behind. They go beneath our house and chew the wires. We never feed them. I really need to get some traps from the humane society or something before they, too, get run over.

 

[EileenH]

Just to clarifyto Ceara as well as everyone else - my comments were not directed at anyone in particular. In fact, I WISH I was that organized to remember who had what pets!

I know different parts of the world are different, but I've seen a lot of collateral damage with outdoor cats. I have no problem when people are with them, and those outdoor enclosures rock!
But, people tell me all the time how their cats don't catch anything, and then other family members tell me differently. One of the people on my board called me about a chipmunk their cat brought in that was loose in her house & she was freaking out. When we went over to help her, there were a slew of mourning dove feathers in her garbage, and we found the stomach and tail of a Southern Flying Squirrel. That was what her cat caught in 1 day. And no, it's not nature. If they werefighting for a meal, perhaps, but that's not the case with our pet cats.

We all say here how we would never want to see our rabbits or other pets in pain. But, why is it OK when animals outside get ripped apart by cats?Many are babies that never got a chance to live. (No, it's not possible to push the intestines back in of that baby rabbit that was caught by a cat. Or when half the skin is ripped off the back of a rabbit, there is no way to fix that. ) Wild rabbits scream in pain just as much as our pets. I've had to hear it.

The canine teeth of a cat is no match for a baby bird that is trying to learn how to fly. Just because you don't see an injury, there is internal damage that is done. Trust me.
As the one who usually has to euthanize those animals, I remember them all and it was all preventable if cats were not let outside.

Anyway, I'm not looking to start anything up, just trying to point out what really happens out there. I just wanted to confirm that my point was general and not meant for any one person.

As far as cats & toilets - holy smokes, I never thought about the whole porcelain thing. Whoa, I could totally see that becoming a problem!! I think I'll stick to my litter box....

 

[lemon]

kherrmann3 wrote

Has anyone ever trained their kitty to use a toilet? I mean, a people toilet? I've heard of people doing it, but I've never heard much feedback on the matter. Would that smell? I would think so, especially if it's been floatin' around for a day!

Well autlly my friend got her cats to do it, once i had to use thiere bath room but there was a ' problem'

 

[kherrmann3]

We now have a kitteh. Will got his way, and there is hair all over my couch already. :grumpy: Oh, well. She's cute and a cuddlebug. Here is the newest member of our furry extended family!

Bella Shedwell! (Will added on the "Shedwell" part. You can probably guess why)
Her Craigslist photos:

Here is a picture I took of her shedding... err... I mean "relaxing" on the couch...

 

[Becknutt]

Very pretty kitty! She has beautiful eyes!



Bassetluv wrote:

Can I add this about litter? I've had cats almost my entire life (and still won't admit to being a 'cat person'! They choose me, I don't choose them), and one issue I've always hated dealing with is the litter box. For most of the years I've had cats I've used the regular scoopable clay litter, and for a brief time also used Yesterday's News. Still had issues with the smell. However, about five or six months ago I decided to try something, and attempted to switch my 14-yr-old cat Fritz to the same pelleted bedding I use for the rabbits (Magnum pelleted horse bedding). I introduced it gradually, intermixing it with the clay litter, and have to say I only wish I'd done this 20 years ago. Not only does it work as well with the cat as it does the rabbits, but it is the best thing I've ever found to absorb that 'kitty' smell in the urine. Now you would never know I have a cat in the house (well, other than kitty hair on the kitchen chairs, and a big grey lump of cat sunning himself in the window :biggrin2.

That is exactally what I do! I put a scoop of the wood pellet in then a scoop of cat litter on top. It really does a great job with the odor.

 

[kherrmann3]

Here are just a few more kitteh pictures!

I am starting to warm up to the idea of having a kitteh. Will has groomed her twice, so her hair isn't flying everywhere and in my face. I am going to go to Wal*Mart or somewhere else where I can get fleecy fabric so I can make cheap blankets to go over the couches. Then I don't need to worry about kitteh hair so much. I just noticed that I type "kitteh" a lot instead of "kitty"... Oh well, it's cute!

She has gone in her litter box three times now (just pee). She hasn't really been eating, but since she's so voluptuous, I am not really too concerned. I've seen her nibble her food.

She now comes out from behind the couch if I scratch my fingers over her back (we moved the couch away from the wall) and move my arm slowly around the couch. She follows. I have been calling her an "attention wh*re". I'm a bad kitteh-mom. LOL

"Sneaky" cat:

Another picture of her eyes:

CLOSE-UP!

She has this adorable little quirk of meowing if she sees either me or Will. We like to mess with her and stick our head over the back of the couch so she meows. Then, we move away and do it again. She has an adorable meow! I will get video sometime.

I am going to stop posting in this thread, but I will be adding updates to my Blog and the "We gots a kitteh!" thread. You can get pictures, as I add them, there. Enjoy! =^.^=